Research Interests:

- Software Development for Laboratories
Laboratories benefit from small software programs that fill gaps in functionality left vacant by Laboratory Information Systems (LIS). These small and easy-to-code programs increase efficiency, decrease turnaround time and improve the quality of patient care by performing complex calculations, automated quality control checking, error flagging and unique functionality specific to discrete pathology subspecialties.
Current Projects:
- Lightweight and portable Bone Marrow and Blood Counter
- Rapid Desktop Image Capture and Storage for Inexpensive Telepathology Systems

- Web Application Development for Laboratories
The use of the Internet and Wide-Area Networks have revolutionized the field of medicine. The specialized nature of Pathology and its subspecialties make the Internet the ideal venue by which clinical services can be delivered. This includes telepathologic diagnosis on specimens required at remote sites as well as electronic order entry and result display to and from outreach facilities. Efforts to begin telepathology services are currently being investigated.

- Telepathology
My work is focused on the intelligent, practical and compliant use of digital imaging systems for pathology practice in patient care.

- Transfusion utilization and information systems
I am involved in several projects which look at how information systems can improve transfusion practice, both from a clinical as well as laboratory perspective.

- Laboratory Information Systems for Molecular Diagnostic Testing
Few systems exist that meet the data storage needs of specialized laboratories which perform molecular tests. This is primarily because of the relative newness of the field and the high complexity of the testing. I am developing systems that meet these needs in both the clinical and research arenas in an open-source format.

- Molecular testing on paraffin-embedded tissues.
Tissues which have been fixed and subsequently embedded in paraffin constitute the vast majority of solid tissues stored in the pathology laboratory. Unfortunately, these tissues are not the best specimens for molecular techniques. Degradation of genetic material, difficult-to-remove inhibitors and fixatives containing chemicals which prevent the polymerase chain reaction all contribute to difficulty or inability to use these tissues for diagnosis. Dr. Carter is interested in discovering new ways to extract genetic material that will improve the ability to perform testing on these pervasive specimens as well as to test current molecular techniques against newer, less toxic fixatives.

Clinical Focus:

As Director of Pathology Informatics, I coordinate projects and translate functional needs related to our various laboratory information systems at the faculty level between the Departments of Pathology and Information Services.
My clinical responsibilities also include interpretation of high-complexity tests in molecular hematopathology.